Ventura College Academic Senate
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Campus Center Conference Room

I.	Call to Order
	This meeting was called to order at 1:35 p.m. The following Senate members were present:
	
	Chen, Albert - Social Sciences & Humanities
	Gardner, Ty - Math & Sciences
	Guillen, Guadalupe - Student Services
	Haines, Robbie - Math & Sciences
	Lange, Cari – Senate Secretary
	Morris, Terry – Health, Physical Education & Athletics
	Muñoz, Paula – Student Services
	Parker, Jennifer - Career and Technical Education
	Penuela, Alan – Career and Technical Education (subbing for Mitchell)
	Pollack, Deborah - Senate Vice-president
	Reynolds, Andrea - Social Sciences & Humanities
	Schoenrock, Kathryn - Communication & Learning Resources
	Sezzi, Peter – Senate President

	The following guests were present:
	Ortega, Monse - Associated Student Body Representative 

II.	Public Comments
	There were no public comments.

III.	Approval of minutes
a.	November 18, 2010
	Motion to approve the minutes from November 18, 2010 was made by Muñoz and seconded by Morris. Motion unanimously carried.  

b.	November 19, 2010
	Motion to approve the minutes from the special session held on November 19, 2010 was made by Muñoz and seconded by Morris. Motioned carried 9-0-3, with Muñoz, Schoenrock, and Lange abstaining. 

IV.	Acknowledgement of Guests
	None.

V.	Announcements
	Sezzi mentioned that the Staff Holiday Luncheon is next Thursday, Dec. 9 in the Cafeteria.

VI.	President’s Report
a.	Administrative Council report
	Sezzi reported that we were at 5,889 FTEFs for Fall 2010, and therefore it is very likely that we will make the annual goal of 10,000 FTEFs to maintain Ventura College’s medium-sized college funding. 

b.	Board of Trustees meetings reports
	The special Board of Trustees meeting from the end of November consisted of attorney interviews for VCCCD retainers. 
 
c.	DTRW, DCSL, DCHR
	DTRW- Sezzi reported that the last DTRW meeting primarily consisted of modifying some Academic Procedures to make them congruent with our current college catalog statements. Sezzi does not feel that any of the modifications were substantial enough to require Academic Senate review and approval but that if anyone wanted to see the changes, to let him know.
	DCHR- Some minor modifications were made to AP 7700. Sezzi brought forward the recommendation made by the Academic Senate regarding the exclusion of an “anonymous” pathway to report fraudulent behavior. Sezzi was informed that anonymous reporting is standard in such protection acts, and would not be removed. While VC representatives were steadfast on the matter, ultimately the rest of the committee was in favor of leaving that portion of the AP intact. 
	Further, the inclusion of an Ombudsman on each campus, as suggest by the Senate, was not considered at this meeting. The Academic Senate affirmed their desire to have a local Ombudsman in lieu of the 1-800-FRAUDALERT system. Sezzi will carry forward our request that the district compare the cost of the two systems, in hopes that a transition to an Ombudsman when the current 1-800-FRAUDALERT system contract has expired will be possible. 
	Finally, it was the Senate’s desire that the Whistleblower Protection policy and accessibility of the 1-800-FRAUDALERT system be made more widely known to the campus community. 

VII.	Campus Committee reports
a.	Curriculum Committee report
i.	Placement of courses within disciplines report out
	Sezzi reported that the department chairs are making significant progress on this task and that it will be completed as promised by the end of January.

b.	Campus Resource Council report
	Sezzi thanked the members of the Staffing Priorities Committee that were present for their work on developing the recommendation list that was forwarded to the College President. As a part of the program review “lite” process, CRC ranked and recommended some $500,000 worth of equipment requests. As the result of the committee’s recommendations, President Calote sent the following statement as an all users e-mail on Monday, November 29:
Allocations for Equipment:  The Campus Resource Council (CRC) has considered the equipment and technology refresh requests submitted through program review “lite.”  In most cases, the CRC was able to recommend that both the first and second level requests of department and programs be advanced for funding.  Four charts showing the items recommended for funding are found below (first priority instructional equipment, second priority instructional equipment, non-instructional equipment, technology refresh equipment).  The items on these charts are still under final review by the Executive Vice President and Deans, but closure is expected soon.

The reminder of the President’s e-mail focused on her response to the Staffing Priorities Committee’s recommendations for faculty growth positions and is included below:

Faculty Staffing Priorities:  This year we conducted our program review “lite” process, with programs preparing staffing requests that were then submitted directly to the appropriate staffing priority committee.  Having seen the documents prepared by the programs and the faculty Staffing Priorities Committee, having consulted with the Deans regarding the relative difficulty of finding qualified adjunct faculty to fill the classroom or service area needs, and having discussed the issue of faculty staffing with the Executive Vice President and the Vice President, I have finalized my staffing plan, which is summarized below.   As you will see from the list, I am in general agreement with the position taken by the Academic Senate that academic or occupational programs should have at least one full-time faculty member to oversee curriculum development, the student learning outcomes assessment and documentation process, program review activities, etc.
 
We will be advertising the following with understanding that the funds have been identified and that the positions are not dependent on other positions becoming vacant:
 
1.       Men’s Basketball Coach/PE Instructor:  The Athletic Director has concurrently served as the Men’s Basketball Coach for the last two years.   This double assignment is not a sustainable.  Two years ago the position was advertised and not filled, with the vacancy going to another discipline.  A permanent Men’s Basketball position will be advertised.
 
2.       Computer Science:  Computer science is a constantly changing and evolving discipline that requires faculty to be on the cutting edge of technology, constantly refreshing and learning new skills, and adapting to ever changing hardware and software in the industry.  There is no full-time faculty member dedicated to teaching or maintaining the currency of the curriculum in this program.  The courses in Computer Science serve students who will eventually transfer as majors in the fields of Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, Information Science, and Computer Science.   This is one of the five “growth” positions prioritized by the Staffing Priorities Committee.
 
3.       Political Science:  The two current full-time faculty in this subject discipline teach large sections and have between four to five preparations each semester.   Productivity in the discipline is high, at approximately 170% of the established target.   An additional faculty member will enable the subject discipline to expand the transfer curriculum it offers and to enrich the program through other initiatives.   This is one of the five “growth” positions prioritized by the Staffing Priorities Committee.
 
4.       Counseling:  There is a mid-year retirement of a counseling faculty member.  This vacancy will be replaced.
 
5.       Counseling/Articulation:  There is a mid-year retirement of the counselor responsible for articulation.  This vacancy will be replaced.
 
6.       Philosophy:  Due to the reassignment of a faculty member back to the subject discipline of original hire (in this case, Math), the Philosophy Department will be down to one full-time faculty member for the 2011-2012 academic year.  The program is productive, consistently achieving approximately 150% of the 525 goal.  Sections taught in this program are large and there is easily enough enrollment to maintain two full-time faculty in this subject discipline.  
 
In addition, there are four positions that will be advertised as “pending funding.”   Whether interviews will be held once the applications have been received will depend on whether anticipated vacancies materialize, either in these specific disciplines or in disciplines where there is no immediate need for a backfill.  The “pending funding” positions are:
 
1.       History:  This position will be needed to maintain the full-time to part-time ratio in this highly enrolled and productive program.  The position will be advertised as “pending funding.”
 
2.       Spanish:  If a projected year-end retirement occurs, the resulting vacancy will be filled.  The position will be advertised as “pending funding.”
 
3.       Human Services/Sociology:   The Human Services certificate program leads directly to employment in an area of identified local need.  Human Services has no full-time faculty member to promote the program, establish content and quality standards, oversee curriculum development, lead the student learning outcomes assessment and documentation process, prepare program review documents, etc.   While there would also be additional load available for this faculty member in the field of Sociology (and the position will be advertised as having a dual load), there is currently enough load in Human Services alone to support two full-time faculty members.   The position will be advertised as “pending funding.”
 
4.       Water Science:  The Water Science is one of the few disciplines offered by the college that leads to employment in the field of alternative energy.  The program is staffed entirely by hourly faculty members.  As such, it did not have an advocate to prepare a formal request for a position or to present the justification for the position before the Staffing Priorities Committee.    The fact that the program had no advocate does not negate the critical need in this subject discipline for a full-time faculty member to promote the program, establish content and quality standards, oversee curriculum development, lead the student learning outcomes assessment and documentation process, and prepare program review documents.   The position will be advertised as “pending funding.” 
 
As noted earlier, two of the five ranked positions submitted by the Staffing Priorities Committee have been incorporated into to the positions I have identified above.   I cannot support the remaining three positions on their list (Educational Assistant Center Counselor, Learning Disabilities Specialist, and Agriculture Instructor) for the following reasons:
 
·         Educational Assistance Center Counselor:   While our District must maintain our full-time obligation to the state (and thus we are continuing to fund contract faculty positions even in the midst of an ever-deepening financial crisis), we are also legally required to spend at least 50% of our dollars on instruction.  Unfortunately, counselors and other non-instructional faculty members are on the “wrong” side of the 50%.  Because of this, the Staffing Priorities Committee was made aware at the beginning of their process that I would be able to refill retirement vacancies in non-instructional areas, but that I would not be able to fund growth positions that fell on the “wrong” side of the 50%. Ramiro Sanchez and I will be meeting with the faculty in the EAC program to identify a way to meet their legitimate need to improve their counselor-to-student ratios in a manner that will still enable us to be compliant with state budget regulations.  This may involve additional hourly support or a change in the mix of assignments within the department; more discussion with the program is needed.
 
·         Learning Disabilities Specialist:  An error was made in the Senate document that was distributed to the faculty that I presume has been corrected by now: the services provided by a Learning Disabilities Specialist are a valuable resource but they are not mandated.  The current Learning Disabilities Specialist both teaches classes and conducts assessments as part of his faculty load.  Discussions are beginning about how to address the unique needs of this student population while still living within our means and staying on the “right” side of the 50%.   This may involve additional hourly support or a change in the mix of assignments; more discussion with the program is needed.
 
·         Agriculture:   While it is true that the Agriculture program has no full-time faculty member whose load is assigned exclusively to this subject discipline, there is a full-time faculty member who has subject expertise in agriculture, who has been teaching 2/5 of the course offerings, and who is capable of playing a lead role in the program’s development.   As this faculty member has recently returned to a full-time teaching load following the completion of a grant-related assignment, it would be possible for the program to have a faculty champion without adding an additional contract faculty member in this area. 
 
We are also not in a financial condition to consider moving forward at this time on the following positions (some of which presented requests through program review “lite” but did not make presentations to the Staffing Priorities Committee):
 
·         Anthropology
·         Art
·         Biology
·         Coaching/PE/Health
·         Communication
·         English
·         EOPS Counselor
·         Geoscience
·         Librarian
·         Math (although Math will be receiving one additional contract faculty member through assignment back to the area of original hire)
·         Music
·         Nursing
·         PE/Health
·         Reading
 
If other retirements are announced during the spring semester, consideration for refilling the vacancies will be given on a case by case basis.
 
The Basketball and Counseling/Articulation positions are in the process of being launched.  Computer Science, Political Science, Counseling, Philosophy, History, Spanish, Human Services/Sociology, and Water Science should begin working with their respective Deans to draft the job announcements.  

c.	Task Force on Learning Communities report
	Parker reported out that the task force is in the process of applying to send a team of up to 10 VC faculty the Learning Communities Workshop program at Evergreen College in Washington state this upcoming Summer.

d.	Student Learning Outcomes Oversight Group report
	Gardner reported that the SLOOG will be working with Dave Keebler to develop a data mining system to help us monitor progress towards stated goals in our program level SLOs. Gardner also reported that the SLOOG was in the early stages of discussion involving what the overall charge will be of the group. The initial conversation focused on the SLOOG acting as more of an oversight group that acts to help faculty standardize the format and language of SLOs. Consideration is being made of utilizing Sharepoint, a system similar to Curricunet, which would allow peer-to-peer SLO development, modification, and approval. 
	After roundtable discussion, it was moved by Haines that the SLOOG be an official subcommittee of the Senate (hereafter referred to as SLOOC), consisting of seven faculty members, one from each division, and at least one of which is an instructor of basic skills, and one non -voting administrator, with the charge of overseeing the process of developing, assessing, and refining program level SLOs, and later course SLOs. Guillen seconded the motion that then unanimously carried. 

VIII.	Study Sessions
a.	Board of Trustees Strategic Planning Objectives
	December 14th is the next BOT strategic planning session. The Senate once again reviewed the BOT’s planning objectives, and requested that Sezzi take forward the suggestion that the BOT’s planning objectives carry an overriding statement regarding the role of the Academic Senates in the stated objective plans.

b.	Campus & District Budgets
	Sezzi urged the Senate members to carefully review the 311 report.  Because this is the report that must be filed with the state, it is perhaps the most important part of the budget report, and requires the greatest scrutiny. Roundtable discussion revealed that the Senate would like more information about how both the allocation model is developed and how the money is divided once it reaches the college level. Sezzi will invite David Keebler to the first Academic Senate meeting of 2011 to discuss VC budget distribution. 

IX.	Action Items
a.	AP 7700 – Whistleblower Protection (Second Reading)
	It was motioned by Haines and seconded by Reynolds and unanimously approved that AP 7700 get moved to a third reading with the noted changes.

b.	Ventura College List of Programs (Second Reading)
	Motion to approve the program list from last Senate meeting was made by Pollack, seconded by Haines and approved by all.

c.	Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) Toolkit (Second Reading)
	This will appear as an action item on our next agenda. 

d.	Program-Level SLO Documentation (First & Second Readings)
	Motion to approve the SLO rubric style forms was made by Muñoz and seconded by Morris. Motion unanimously carried (Attached for your convenience as Attachment A and Attachment B).

X.	Adjournment
	This meeting was adjourned at 3:35 p.m.

ATTACHMENT A.

Course:
Program:
Division:
Date:	
Column 1:  Mission	Column 2: Student Learning Outcome(s)	Column 3:  Measurement	Column 4:  Summary of Data Collected (Results)	Column 5:  Use of Results	
College Mission:  Ventura College, one of the oldest comprehensive community colleges in California, provides a positive and accessible learning environment that is responsive to the needs of a highly diverse student body through a varied selection of disciplines, learning approaches and teaching methods including traditional classroom instruction, distance education, experiential learning, and co-curricular activities.

Core Competency (S):

Program SLO (S):

					

ATTACHMENT B.

VENTURA COLLEGE, DOCUMENTATION FORM FOR PROGRAM/SERVICE LEVEL SLOs

Program		
Date of Meeting		
Names of Attendees
		
College Level SLOs (formerly “Core Skill Sets”)

	
List 1-3 college level SLOs that apply most logically and directly to your program.  

The six college SLOs are: (1) Communication, (2) Information Competency, (3) Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, (4) Creative Expression, (5) Civic Responsibility, and (6) Social Interaction and Life Skills.  Forgot what these headings describe?  Look on page 41 of the current college catalog.  [Example:  English might select (1) Communication and (2) Information Competency]

1.	Xxx
2.	Xxx
3.	Xxx

Provide a summary of the discussion in which program-level SLOs were created.

	Need some ideas about how to structure the discussion to create program level SLOs?  Your dean has been provided with an example of one way to facilitate the meeting.	
Program/Service Level SLOs
(add or delete number as appropriate)

	
List 3-6 program or service level SLOs. 

These outcomes should describe in a broad way what we intend for students to be able to do as a result of the work they done completing a degree or certificate in the program. [Example: For a certificate in Accounting, the program SLOs might be: (1) Produce accurate financial statements for a company (2) Construct basic accounting documents and solve case problems utilizing appropriate technology, and (3) Analyze existing documents by verifying the accuracy of information for a company and performing necessary reconciliation.]   Before you complete your program level SLOs, review the SLOs for the individual courses in your program to ensure that there is a logical relationship and alignment between the course SLOs and the program SLOs.

For programs where it is expected that a student may only take one or two required courses (Speech or English, for example), the program SLOs might be (but need not be) drawn from  the bullet points that further define the college level SLOs and that are found on page 41 of the current college catalog.  [Example: If English were to draw its program level SLOs solely from the bullet points of the college SLOs, the program SLOs might be: (1) Write clearly and accurately in a variety of contexts and formats, (2) Evaluate authority, veracity, and bias of information, (3) Document their sources of information.]  

Need some additional examples?  Your Dean has a printout of examples from other colleges.

1.	Xxxx
2.	Xxxx
3.	Xxxx	

>>>> In addition:   Attach a copy of the course-level SLOs for all courses taught by your program during the spring 2011 semester.  Your division office can provide you with a copy of the existing course-level SLOs if you do not already have one.  

Summary submitted by _______________________________________Date _______________

Submit a copy of your completed form electronically to:  Sandy Hajas, Learning Resources Division
Deadline: Friday, December 17, 2010.

Submit a file copy of your form to your Dean.